Counter-Balanced Cup Brush Head Assembly

ABSTRACT

An assembly for surface finishing, comprising a pair of heads which are movable on linear slides. Each head comprises a series of cup brushes that finish the surface of the workpiece. The two heads are tied to a single motor/gearbox combination by a crankshaft which allows each head to move with a phase relationship determined by the linkage to counterbalance the motions and acceleration forces against each other. By counterbalancing the heads in this manner, faster oscillation speeds can be achieved without undesirable vibration. The result is a better treatment of the surface of the workpiece.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is related to provisional application No. 61/002,755 filed Nov. 13, 2007 and provisional application No. 61/102,606 filed Oct. 3, 2008.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to assemblies for finishing the surfaces of workpieces that pass through the machinery, such as widebelt wet or dry metal finishing machines for operations such as grinding, deburring, polishing, and the like.

BACKGROUND

The basic features of surface finishing machines for metal are well known. In general, a moving bed carries a workpiece such as a plate of metal beneath a series of assemblies that abrade or polish the upward-facing surface of the workpiece. Typical types of assemblies include belt sanders, brushes, and discs.

SUMMARY

In general terms, this application describes an assembly for surface finishing, comprising a pair of heads which are movable on linear slides. Each head comprises a series of cup brushes that finish the surface of the workpiece. The two heads are tied to a single motor/gearbox combination by a crankshaft which allows each head to be attached such that they are out of phase in their linear motions compared to each other. This counterbalances the motions against each other. By counterbalancing the heads in this manner, faster oscillation speeds can be achieved without undesirable vibration. The result is a better treatment of the surface of the workpiece.

More specifically, the assembly is for treating a longitudinally moving surface of a metal workpiece. It comprises a vertically adjustable frame and a pair of heads facing each other from opposite sides of the frame. Each head is supported by a rail mounted to the frame for transverse sliding motion on the rail relative to the frame. The assembly further comprises a motor to transversely slide each head. The motor is mounted to the frame and coupled to each of the pair of heads by a transmission. The transmission converts rotation of the motor into reciprocating transverse sliding motion of each head during longitudinal movement of the workpiece. A plurality of independently driven spindle motors is vertically mounted to each head, and a respective plurality of cup brushes is mounted to the spindle motors to address the longitudinally moving surface of the metal workpiece during transverse motion of each head.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures are schematic and provided for illustration only, and thus do not limit the scope of the invention. In particular, common accessories and components, such a mounting hardware and electrical wiring, has been omitted solely for clarity.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the assembly with some components removed for clarity of illustration.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a reversed perspective view of the assembly of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the motor, gear box, and linkage components.

FIG. 5 is a reverse perspective view of the linkage components of FIG. 4, the motor and gear box being omitted for clarity.

FIG. 6 is a close-up perspective view of the various linkage components.

FIG. 7 is a reversed perspective view of selected components of the assembly of FIGS. 1-3.

FIG. 8 is a close-up perspective view of the spindle motor and cup brush components.

FIG. 9 is a close-up perspective view of the coupling block component.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the description below, the longitudinal direction is direction of travel of the workpiece having its surface finished, i.e., longitudinal corresponds to “forward” or “reverse” directions of the workpiece. The transverse direction is perpendicular to longitudinal but within the plane of the workpiece, i.e., corresponding to the “width” of the throat of the apparatus into which the workpiece travels. The vertical direction is perpendicular to the plane of the workpiece, i.e., away from or toward the surface being finished.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, assembly 100 comprises a pair of reciprocating heads 10, the nearest of which has had its cover 11 removed to expose a series of spindle motors 12 (see also FIG. 8) as attached to the head 10. Each cup brush 13 is attached by a collet chuck to the drive shaft of its respective spindle motor 12. On each head, the set of cup brushes 13 abrade the entire width of the upper-facing surface of the workpiece (not shown) as it passes underneath the assembly 100 on a conventional bed, in the form of an endless moving belt (not shown). At the same time, each head 10 is transversely reciprocating by action of the combination of a single drive motor 14 and reduction gear box (see also FIG. 4), which is rotating a single drive shaft 15, which in turn is connected to each head 10 by a linkage 16 (see also FIGS. 4-6).

In structural terms, the assembly 100 is attached to a chassis (not shown) by conventional mounts (not shown); a chassis-mounted frame comprises two vertically movable upright columns 16 to which the drive motor 14 and a pair of transverse rails 17 are fixed. Each rail 17 supports a pair of upper and lower edges 18 on which each head 10 glides with the assistance of various guide/support wheels 19 (see also FIG. 7). The unmatched guide/support wheel on the upper edge 18 ensures that head 10 is supported by at least two upper wheels when it is slid fully from the apparatus for replacement of the cup brushes 13. For this purpose, rail 17 and edges 18 extend beyond column 16.

A single vertical frame adjustment mechanism 20 (for example, a worm gear and shaft arrangement) moves the entire frame and everything attached to it at once. This allows for all of the drive motor 14, the pair of heads 10, and the linkage 16 between the drive motor 14 and each head 10 to be vertically moved together in a single adjustment, thus maintaining intact the alignment (phase difference) of the heads 10 with respect to each other and the other geometry of the assembly 100 with respect to the workpiece.

As illustrated in FIGS. 4-6, the drive motor 14 is linked to a worm drive so that relatively rapid rotation of the vertically mounted drive motor shaft is converted into relatively slower rotation of the horizontally oriented drive shaft 15, providing sufficient torque to oscillate the heads 10 despite their large weight. Friction is considerably reduced by the rolling action of each head 10, using the guide/support wheels 19 along upper/lower edges 18. As illustrated, the heads 10 are exactly out of phase, such that the two heads 10 reciprocate in opposite directions, automatically balancing the forces on the entire assembly 100 caused by motion of the heads 10. The phase difference between the two heads 10 is set by the relative positions of the two coupling blocks 21 as angularly placed around the circumference of the drive shaft 15.

Each coupling block 21 attaches on one of its ends to the drive shaft 15 and on its other end to a tie rod assembly 22. Each tie rod assembly 22 comprises an externally threaded rod 23 and a pair of internally threaded end pieces 24, one end piece 24 on each end of the externally threaded rod 23. The two end pieces 24 are threaded onto rod 23 as required to span the distance between the drive shaft 15 and head 10, and jam nuts 25 are used to fix each end piece 24 in place on rod 23. Each end piece 24 further comprises a non-rotating minor shaft 26. The minor shaft 26 is attached to either the coupling block 21 or the backplate 27 of each head 10. As shown in FIG. 6, the minor shaft 26 has a rounded end to provide sufficient play in each tie rod assembly 22 to accommodate any minor tolerances that are required to fit the entire linkage in place.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated, shaft key 28 provides an index location and fixes the relative positions of the two coupling blocks 21 with respect to each other and drive shaft 15. The shape of shaft key 28 is designed to mate with indexed detents 29 arranged at 90° angles around the drive shaft recess 30 defined by each coupling block 21 (see also FIG. 9). This enables placement of a set of two coupling blocks 21 (each of which can be reversed left-to-right) in any of four positions around drive shaft 15, i.e., in-phase (both heads 10 moving in unison), out-of-phase (each head 10 moving exactly opposite to the other), and the two positions in between.

In any embodiment of the invention, the cup brushes are preferably, but not necessarily, identical (particularly in their abrasive characteristics) and spinning in the same direction. It is possible for the cup brushes on the first head encountered by the workpiece to be different from those of the second head. This would permit, for example, the use of relatively course abrasive rating cup brushes followed by relatively fine abrasive rating cup brushes in a single pass of the workpiece. It is not preferred for the abrasive rating of the cup brushes of a single head to vary from one another, however, as this would not provide a finish to the workpiece that did not vary across the transverse width of the workpiece, which is generally not desired.

Another option is for all cup brushes to be identical but for them to be spinning in any arrangement of directions, such as all of the first head spinning counterclockwise (viewed from either above or below) and all of the second head spinning clockwise (viewed from the same perspective). Another possibility is for the cup brushes on a given head to alternate in rotation direction. Depending on the materials of the workpiece and abrasive on the cup brushes, such options may provide variations in finish quality or finish pattern that are desirable. Such options are easily accommodated by known variations in the wiring and/or phases of the signals provided to drive the spindle motors involved. In the latter regard, it should be noted that the spindle motors are not coupled together in any mechanical sense other than their common mounting within head 10. That is, there are no gears, belts, or other means of mechanical coupling between adjacent spindle motors to coordinate their operation. Instead, the electrical signal brought to each spindle motor—which, in the preferred embodiment, is simply parallel wiring of a common signal to each spindle motor of a given head—is responsible for driving each motor in a coordinated (preferably identical) manner.

The number and diameter of cup brushes is related to the working width of the apparatus and the head oscillation travel distance. In the preferred embodiment illustrated here, the head has sixteen cup brushes, each being three and one-half inch diameter, spaced at intervals on the order of three and five-eighths to four inches. Each head travels between two and five inches in the transverse direction, fully finishing a workpiece which is up to about sixty-three inches in transverse width. The cup brushes, as illustrated, are fully in-line and not staggered longitudinally, which would undesirably increase the width of each head and thus the entire apparatus.

Typical operating parameters include: workpiece feed speeds of three to nine inch/second; cup brush rotation speeds in the range of hundreds to thousands of rpm; head oscillation frequencies in the range of one-quarter to three cycles/second; head oscillation travel distances in the range of three to ten inches; drive motor speeds in the range of one thousand to two thousand rpm (and up to twenty horsepower); and gear box ratios in the range of 5:1 to 100:1. These are preferred ranges only.

Optional pinch rollers (not shown) are preferred to hold the workpiece in place against the drive bed for improved performance. The advantage of the use of dual heads is that a central pinch roller may be placed between the two heads, in addition to pinch rollers on both inlet and outlet sides of the assembly as a whole. Similarly, there is also room underneath each head, on opposite sides of the central pinch roller, for stationary manifolds to deliver cooling liquid to the surface of the workpiece as it is being treated. 

1. An assembly for treating a longitudinally moving surface of a metal workpiece, comprising: a vertically adjustable frame; a pair of heads facing each other from opposite sides of the frame, each head supported by a rail mounted to the frame for transverse sliding motion on the rail relative to the frame; and a motor to transversely slide each head, the motor mounted to the frame and coupled to each of the pair of heads by a transmission to convert rotation of the motor into reciprocating transverse sliding motion of each head during longitudinal movement of the workpiece; in which a plurality of spindle motors is vertically mounted to each head, and a respective plurality of cup brushes is mounted to the spindle motors to address the longitudinally moving surface of the metal workpiece during transverse motion of each head.
 2. The assembly of claim 1, in which the transmission comprises a drive shaft, a pair of tie rod assemblies, and a pair of coupling blocks each having opposed ends; in which each coupling block is attached on one of its ends to the drive shaft and on its other end to its respective tie rod assembly.
 3. The assembly of claim 2, in which each tie rod assembly comprises an externally threaded rod and a pair of internally threaded end pieces, one end piece on each end of the externally threaded rod, the two end pieces threaded onto the rod to span the distance between the drive shaft and each of the pair of heads.
 4. The assembly of claim 3, in which each end piece further comprises a non-rotating minor shaft attached to each head.
 5. The assembly of claim 4, in which each minor shaft has a rounded end.
 6. The assembly of claim 1, in which the respective reciprocal transverse sliding motions of each head are out of phase with respect to each other.
 7. The assembly of claim 1, in which both heads may be vertically moved together to maintain intact alignment of the heads with respect to each other.
 8. A process for treating a longitudinally moving surface of a metal workpiece, comprising: providing a vertically adjustable frame; providing a pair of heads facing each other from opposite sides of the frame, each head supported by a rail mounted to the frame for transverse sliding motion on the rail relative to the frame; providing a motor to transversely slide each head, the motor mounted to the frame and coupled to each of the pair of heads by a transmission to convert rotation of the motor into reciprocating transverse sliding motion of each head during longitudinal movement of the workpiece; and providing a plurality of spindle motors vertically mounted to each head, and a respective plurality of cup brushes mounted to the spindle motors to address the longitudinally moving surface of the metal workpiece during transverse motion of each head. 